BOYS BASKETBALL

Klahowya 61, Elma 50

Elma and Klahowya played evenly for most of the game, but an 8-0 run by Klahowya toward the end of the second quarter was a bit too much for Elma to overcome in its 61-50 loss on Friday in Elma.

Elma (0-2) faced with an opponent with a similar playing style, with both teams applying pressure to ball handlers and running the fast break.

Cody Vollan paced the offense for Elma with 17 points, including an important three pointer that cut the deficit to single digits late in the fourth to give the Elma Eagles a glimmer of hope at the end.

Neither team was able to take control of the game in the first quarter with the contest tied at 13 at the end of the frame.

Turnovers began to plague Elma in the second quarter, limiting its number of shot attempts and allowing the Klahowya Eagles to get uncontested layups.

Elma head coach Jeff Niemi said his team will need to be more careful with the ball going forward.

“The big difference — we forced their 26 (turnovers) and we gave them at least a third of our turnovers,” he said. “I told the guys that if we can eliminate Three Stooges turnovers we get more shots and we win the game.”

The Elma Eagles were outscored 20-12 in that second quarter, and with Klahowya outscoring by Elma by one in the third quarter and two in the fourth, Niemi considers the last few minutes before halftime as a major turning point.

Niemi said 61 points is too many points to surrender, even with his team’s fast-paced style, but he was encouraged by his players’ defensive hustle.

“That’s too many points for us to give up. We have some stuff to work on defensively,” he said. “We’re trying hard but we have some technique to work on.”

Cobey Moore had a solid game on the defensive end with two blocks and two steals to go along with his nine points.

Elma will now set its sights on Seton Catholic for a home game on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

After losing 70-34 when the two teams squared off last season, Niemi is looking forward to seeing how his team matches up this season.

“We played them last year and they stuck it too us so I’m looking forward to that one,” he said. “It’ll be good for us because they’re in our district and we can see where we’re at compared to a team down there.”

Elma 12 12 12 13 – 50

Klahowya 12 20 13 15 – 61

Top Players: Vollan (17 pts., 9 rebs., 3 stl), Moore (13 pts., 9 rebs., 3 stl), Carter Jacobson (7 pts, 4 rebs., 2 stl)

— Hasani Grayson, Grays Harbor News Group

Ocosta 59, Raymond 56

In a game that was a closely-contested, back-and-forth contest, the Ocosta Wildcats made clutch shots late in the game to earn a 59-56 victory over Raymond on Friday at Raymond High School.

Ocosta’s Kobe Beck had a game-high 17 points and hit big shots in the fourth quarter to help lead the Wildcats to a 2B Pacific League victory.

“Kobe hit some pretty clutch shots down the stretch,” said Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby, who added neither team had more than a four-point lead in the second half.

Raymond (0-3, 0-2 Pacific 2B) started off hot and led 17-8 after the first quarter, but Ocosta (2-0, 2-0) returned the favor, outscoring the Seagulls 17-8 in the second quarter to tie the game 25-all at halftime.

“The game was a battle from the tip off,” Raymond head coach Derek Rask said. “The pace was fast and both teams played really tough defense.”

The Seagulls held a one-point lead heading into the final quarter, but Ocosta, led by Beck, hit shots down the stretch while Raymond failed to convert on its opportunities.

Quinby said the game basically came down to his team making a few more shots at the end than Raymond.

“We had a couple of shots go down and they had some swirl around and rim out,” he said.

“It came down to possessions, and Ocosta made a few more plays than we did,” Rask said. “I’m proud of our team’s effort.”

Beck was joined by fellow Wildcat Richard Bueber in the double-digit scoring category. The 6-foot-4 post player had 10 points and was commended by Quinby for his play in the paint.

“Richard had a real good game tonight,” he said. “He did a really good job inside for us.”

Raymond was led by Devine Souvannavanh, who scored 16 points and seven rebounds.

Jose Delgado had 13 points and Tre Seydel added 10 points and a team-high seven assists for Raymond.

Ocosta 8 17 11 23 — 59

Raymond 17 8 12 19 — 56

Top Players: Ocosta — Beck (17 pts., Bueber (13 pts.), Alex Bailey (5 stl., 4 asst.); Raymond — Souvannavanh (16 pts., 7 reb.), J. Delgado (13 pts.), Seydel (10 pts., 7 asst.)

Hoquiam 56, Columbia-White Salmon 17

The Hoquiam Grizzlies are off to a 2-0 start to the season after a 56-17 blitzing of Columbia-White Salmon on Friday at Hoquiam High School.

Hoquiam (2-0) led 13-2 after the first quarter and by 35 points heading into the final frame as the Grizzlies defense didn’t allow CWS to score 10 points in any quarter during the game.

Garrett Dick led the Grizzlies with 15 points and four steals. Matt Brown scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Kyle Larson added seven points and four rebounds off the bench.

“I felt our offense was really key tonight,” Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles said. “When we didn’t have transition baskets, the guys did a great job of being patience and running our sets.”

Hoquiam will face Aberdeen at 7 p.m. on Friday in Hoquiam.

CWS 2 6 2 7 — 17

Hoquiam 13 11 21 11 — 56

Top Players: Hoquiam — Dick (15 pts., 4 stl.), Brown (10 pts., 9 reb., 5 stl, 5 asst.), Larson (7 pts., 4 reb.)

Willapa Valley 51, Northwest Christian 50

Logan Walker and Matt Pearson scored 16 points apiece to lead Willapa Valley to a 51-50 win over Northwest Christian on Friday at Northwest Christian High School.

The Trojans (2-0) trailed by two points with under a minute to go in the game when Pearson hit a 3-pointer that gave Willapa Valley a 51-50 lead with 48 seconds remaining.

On the Navigators ensuing possession, Willapa Valley center Beau Buchanan blocked a shot, corralled the rebound and was fouled. Buchanan missed the front end of a one-and-one and NWC called a quick timeout to set up a final shot attempt.

But the Navigators’ three-quarters court Hail Mary shot was off the mark, preserving the Trojans victory.

“We normally shoot the ball very well. This game, we didn’t,” Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said. “We were settling for three’s and not attacking the basket. … We didn’t play very well and had no continuity. We have a lot of work to do.”

Allen Deniston was noted by Pearson as being a spark off the bench with four points in the first half as was Frank Roonsburg in the second half, where the senior guard had two steals to lead a solid Willapa Valley defense.

“(Roonsburg) was a defensive spark off the bench and had huge defensive intensity,” Pearson said. “Our full court man-t0-man press saved the day. We challenged our guys to work harder and they responded.”

Willapa Valley 3 14 17 17 — 51

NWC 13 7 16 14 — 50

Top Players: Willapa Valley — Walker (16 pts.), M. Pearson (16 pts.)

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL

Forks 40, Aberdeen 21

The Bobcats struggled to get points in the paint in their 40-21 season-opening loss at Forks on Friday.

Neither team took full control of the game in the opening frame, with Forks nursing an 8-4 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter.

Though Aberdeen was struggling to score, the Bobcats remained in striking distance with and were only down 19-12 at the break.

Forks began to pull away with the help of back-to-back 3-pointers to open up play in the third quarter.

Aberdeen head coach Rachel Wenzel said her players moved the ball to the areas she wanted them to but couldn’t get the scoring out of the post players she was looking for.

“We couldn’t get any offensive rhythm. We practiced all week getting it to our posts, but we just didn’t convert,” she said.

Aberdeen will be looking for its first win of the season when they take on Capital at Sam Ben Gym on Monday at 7 p.m.

Aberdeen 4 8 4 5 – 21

Forks 8 11 17 4 – 40

Montesano 57, Centralia 33

Montesano got a big night from Zoe Hutchings who put up 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the Bulldogs’ 57-33 road victory over Centralia on Friday.

Montesano (2-0) got off to a fast start and outscored the Tigers 15-7 in the first quarter and went into halftime protecting a 26-17 lead.

Bulldogs head coach Julie Graves said her team elevated its level of play in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our defensive intensity fueled our offense,” she said. “We were up by 12 early in the fourth quarter and our defensive intensity really picked up and we finished the game strong.”

Katie Granstrom and Paige Lisherness both defended well down the stretch and finished the game with three steals apiece.

The Bulldogs will look to keep the win streak going on Tuesday when they take on Rochester at home at 7 p.m.

Montesano 15 11 15 16 – 57

Centralia 7 10 8 7 – 33

Top Players: Montesano – Hutchings (24 pts., 18 reb.), Granstrom (14 pts., 5 stl., 3 asst.), Lisherness (11 pts, 3 stl.), Glory Grubb (7 asst.)